Inequivalent Trade: A Christmas Gift Fic
by Ankaris123
Summary: AU. Oneshot. In which your first date is traded by your grandma for a 27" flat screen T.V. It's going to prove to be a better time than Sora expects. RikuSora.


Title: Inequivalent Trade

Authoress: Ankaris

Start Date: December 23, 2006

End Date: December 22, 2007

Disclaimer: I own nothing and probably only half the plot.

Summary: In which your grandmother trades your first date for a flat screen T.V. Sora's going to be more pleased with this than he thinks. RikuSora. 

Dedicated to Rikka Sohma….I think I don't remember which account it is anymore….well it's dedicated to _Meru_ as her Christmas gift. I'm aware that '_inequivalent_' isn't a word but if there was a negative I believed that would be it and plus, it sounds kind of nice too. This is a true _almost happened_ story to her that was warped and rearranged only to be murdered by my awful writing skills. _Tread Carefully_.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"How's about this one, dear?"

"Not a chance, grandma, it's in the _negatives_ out there, I'll _freeze_ in that, it's far too thin."

"Hmm, true. And I thought it was vanity over personal health these days for you young ones."

The elderly lady moped and dug into the closet once more, picking through the articles of clothes at the very back.

Sora eyed his grandma with an expression that clearly said, 'What's that suppose to mean?'

"Ooh. How's this?" she asked, showing him a small bright yellow sweatshirt she found. A faded smiley face spray-painted amateurishly on to the front.

"Um…it's kind of…small…don't you think? Didn't you buy me what when I was 8…?" He said it with repressed agitation in his voice. He ran a tired hand through his spiky brown locks. "You know, why don't you just leave this to me-"

"No, no! I won't have it! Leave it up to me, Sora dear. Sit tight on your bed, I'll fix you up in a jiffy," she interjected with a fierce determination that in a negative way could've caused anyone in her presence to cower.

She tossed the yellow top with the others in the small but growing pile of ridiculously eccentric and rejected clothing. Hitching up her bright purple and green printed long skirt higher on her waist, she turned back to the closet with fortitude and rummaged further, avoiding the sensible and drab clothing that she flung everywhere else.

Sora groaned and flopped backwards onto his bed; careful not to hit the wall it was pushed against. It was the early afternoon of Christmas Eve, around three in the afternoon to be more exact, and here he was, stuck in his cramped bedroom with his grandmother picking out something to wear.

It wasn't one of those oh-let's-have-a-grandmother-grandson-bonding-day-so-let-me-pick-out-your-clothing days. Because, _lord_, did he wish it was (No matter how embarrassing they usually ended in). It was for a date. No, not a normal premeditated date between two friends or lovers.

It was, yes, it was a blind date.

Now, it's hard to remember just how this all began exactly but Sora still had an inkling of what happened. It was yesterday morning when his grandmother asked to have a talk with him… 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Sora, dear," his grandmother called from the family living room. "Come in here for a moment, gran-gran would like to talk to you."

"_Coming_, grandma," he obliged, closing the oven door with a snap. The endearments and speech in third person were two things the fifteen year old could do without. He was well aware that his grandmother knew he was already too old for such treatment but it never seemed to bring an end to her antics.

Slipping off the padded oven mitts, he discarded them on the flour-covered counter. He checked the oven temperature one last time then walked into the living room.

"What do you need, grandma?"

Sitting in the small confines of the inadequate living space, the smile on her wrinkly face looked unusually sugar-laced. She made a motion for him to come closer and patted her knee as if expecting him to sit on her lap. This made the young man ponder briefly over the mechanics of his grandmother's logical reasoning. The last time she pulled this on him was two years ago when they were reunited for the first time after five years.

Instead, he chose sensibly to sit across from her on the beaten down sofa. As he settled down, she pushed her wire-framed glasses up on her nose and squinted at him fondly.

"Remember that _nice_ television that I purchased for your parents the other day?" she said, softly, turning the crinkly pages of her cheap paperback novel without really reading it.

"Yes."

Yesterday, his grandma had generously bequeathed them with a gorgeous 27" LCD Flat screen television that now sat in the very same living room they were sitting in. The surface of the screen flashed a glossy black from where it rested on the short table aligned with the wall, new and untouched. According to his grandmother, it was one of the last three left in stock in the Mainland and had a killer price deal.

"You know how it was _extremely_ hard to find, right, dear?"

"I imagine it would've," he answered idly, tapping his fingers across the worn fake black leather of the couch. He had a curious feeling nagging the excess of his mind but he chose to ignore it; his intuition was _generally_ misleading.

"At the store, I went up to the counter and talked to the nice sales clerk there, see," she said. "Told me there was only _three_ left and all. She was such a dear; she offered to search for them for me, yes, yes." Silently, she pushed her glasses up on her face again, closing her book. Placing it on the lamp table next to her, she clasped her hands together and smiled with forced innocence.

"Took her _ages_ to find it and what luck for her too, to stumble upon the last one. I didn't know how I could _ever_ repay her _hard work_ and _kindness_, especially having her work _overtime_ after her shift ended." She stressed the words overtly in her sentences as if hinting at some underlying message.

Sora fidgeted. He didn't like how this conversation was going.

"I say to her, I says, 'Oh, I don't know how _ever_ could I repay you for your effort.' And then she looks at me and says, "No, it was _no_ bother,' she says, and then," she paused a moment, recalling the memory, "then I says to her, that _sweet_ child, "Why, I should adopt you, you sweet child, _no_? Well, you're a _nice_ child, I don't suppose, I have a _sweet tempered_ grandson who I don't suppose you would mind a _date_ from? He would be _just_ about your age, yes he should,' I says, 'Now now, no need to be shy, come to the address I've written on the order form, let's say, the day following tomorrow, noon at 5 I say, that would be a good time,' and she declines over and over I believe, I don't remember, my hearing aid ran out of power round that time."

A way to describe how Sora's brain reacted after this bit of information would be a car going down a suburban street when suddenly it was hit by an avalanche twenty-four meters deep of snow, slush and ice. Unluckily, the thawing of said brain was quicker than the analogy.

"W-wait, wait, just-, I, you, d-did you say, if I'm hearing this correctly, that you set me up on a _blind date_ with _some girl_ you met in a _store_?" he choked out after he half-convinced himself that he heard properly, gripping the arm of the upholstery tightly in what he could only describe to be horror.

He wished with all his might to the heavens that she was joking; it _had_ to be a joke. Right? _Right_?!

"That's what I said, dear," she replied completely unfazed, fixing the position of her forever-slipping glasses on her face yet again. There was a trace of a phantom smile dancing upon her lips.

He blinked his vision clear of the dark spots that threatened to knock him unconscious. He tried to speak several times, each time less coherent than the last.

"Ca-can you just repeat that? Please?"

"I said, 'That's what I said, dear,' you having trouble hearing too now? Maybe I should lend you my hearing aid…" She made a move to pull hers out of her ear. Before she could, Sora hurriedly assured her he didn't need it in a quick session of barely coherent protests and wild arm movements.

"Are you okay, dearie?" she asked with concern that sounded fake to his ears.

Of course he was not _okay_. This is not a situation that people would normally be _okay_ with. He inhaled deeply to level his quickened pulse.

He desperately tried to keep his mind composed and was failing miserably. In the jumble of rushed thoughts, there was one common point in all of them. That there had to be _something, anything _he could do. 

"No, it's okay, grandma, actually it isn't…do you have _any_ clue whom this girl is? Any at all?" A tiny, miniscule flame of hope hung on the fact that perhaps it was someone he already knew. That way he might be able to wiggle out of this blind date situation which wouldn't be a blind date since he would know who the other person was.

Sora blinked, thoroughly confused with himself.

"Hmm, _no_, it's certainly not one of your friends; I _might've_ known her before when I was still shacked up in this little place afore I left it to your parents. She _probably_ was a little mite back then, all grown up now, she has the _fairest_ silver hair, I tell you…"

Silver hair. Straining his memory, he could not recall any female friends of his in his whole life span that has silver hair, not that he had many to begin with. A panicked numbness swelled and spread rapidly within him as the pressure of situation finally fell on him.

His _grandmother_ had set him up on a _blind date_ with a _girl _without telling before hand and there was less than 24 hours until it begins. This fact settled in his stomach, making him feel a little queasy.

"Do you know her name?" She _has_ to at least know her name. Though by the way this is turning out so far, he seriously doubts it.

"Hmm, she _might've_ told me it, but it's slipped my mind, she's a precocious thing, she is, mind you don't upset her tomorrow," she chided, ending the conversation then and there. She picked up her novel and flipped to the book-marked page. Humming under her breath, she appeared to be reading, but it was obvious she was doing it purposefully. Nevertheless, he appreciated the time to think but it wasn't much help now.

His _first_ date with a girl and it was to be with someone he doesn't even _know_ and probably has _never_ met before in his life set up by his grandmother who was as _blind_ as a bat with or without her glasses. He couldn't imagine how anything could make this situation any worse.

"Hmm, what's that smell?"

"Ah! The cookies!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh, how's this one, sweetie?" She held up a retro styled 60's dress with its hem tailored and trimmed ineptly with frills. Despite the fact it was probably very old, it was surprisingly well preserved, the blue and white fibers looked fresh and new albeit it was marginal dusty from its packaging.

"Grandma, I'm a boy."

She stared at him incredulously and then back at the slim dress.

"I think this would look absolutely _lovely_ on you," she droned, holding it up to his shoulders, taking in some mental measurements.

"I'm a _boy_, grandma, boys _do not_ wear _dresses_," Sora repeated, impatiently, emphasizing on the word boy. His grandmother looked perplexed for an instant, combing a weary hand through her limp gray hair. For a moment she looked like she was relenting.

"_Aw_, are you being shy, dear? Girls should always strive to look their best," she chirped happily, more to herself to him. She hugged the piece of clothing to her chest and sighed dreamily, probably going over teenage memories. That by itself was already an odd thought.

"Grandma, just listen, closely, okay?_ I'M. A. BOY_." Sora nearly yelled. He could feel his cheeks tingle despite the fact he should be use to his grandma's teasing by now She took every chance she had to pick at him notwithstanding the fact that she claimed to love him so tremendously.

"Of _course_, you are, dear, what would you be then, _eh_?" She smoothed out the wrinkles and creases in the dress tenderly and folded it neatly to be put away, halfhearted. She let out a deep exaggeratedly depressed sigh and put it back into the box.

He fumed inwardly at his grandmother's forgetfulness. He knows he shouldn't blame her for something she has no control over but he often wondered if it was all an act. It was not on a rare occasion that she would (appear to) delude herself in believing she had a granddaughter instead of a grandson (A rather astounding misconception to say the least). The wonders of old age.

Sora hoped he never went senile like that when he was old and decrepit. That is if he ever got to be that old without keeling over in a moment's notice. It's a wonder how his grandmother could move around with such energy at her age.

"Ah, but when you were just as high as my knees, you were, you use to _scamper_ through the house dressed up in my old gowns and you _never_ seemed too complain much back then," she remarked reminiscently, patting the dress flat into the cardboard box where she had pulled it from. The air flattened out of the article of clothing created puffs of dust.

The young teen flushed crimson red and replied in a piqued tone, "That was only because whenever Kairi came over, she always _insisted_ on having a _tea party,_ _every single time_."

He could recall those days as clear as crystal though he wish he didn't. Draped in outrageously oversized pink dresses, he was forced to sit at the squat _plastic_ table, be served '_tea_' in a pink _plastic_ teacup set and talk like old women with all the other _'ladies'_. Luckily for him, Kairi grew out of that stage after a while and moved onto collecting Barbie dolls thus bonding with Selphie in some sort of freak shopping mall incident in Aisle 42.

"_Hmm_, this is good, is it not?" she said, derailing his train of thoughts. She laid a faded red t-shirt on the bedspread. Next to it, she laid down a dark navy fleece zip up hoodie with a logo that looked like a white keyhole on the left pocket. Sometimes, and rarely, his grandma was able to put together something decent if not plain and simple.

"That's good, grandma, thanks, now…. pants…" he dug through his dresser for a pair of jeans. Something made of denim was thrust in front of his face obscuring his vision.

"Oh, thank you," Sora said, taking them from her with only the slightest hesitation. He held it up at arms length and realized that it was in fact a long faded indigo washed denim skirt. A yellow sunflower with a bright smiley face was stitched onto the bottom corner.

"_Grandma_…"

"But, _dear_…" she whimpered. She threw in a phony sniffle for effect and wrung her hands pathetically.

"No, grandma, besides, it's really, _really_ cold outside, if I _did_ wear a skirt I would _freeze_ my lower half, not that I _would._" He would rather _die_ than wear a skirt or dress again. Well, maybe not _die_…

"You're no fun, where has the little, obedient Sora gone? It seemed like it was only yesterday when you were just a little tot, I still remember how you would pull at my dress and say to me, 'Gran-gran, do I look pretty? Kairi says I look _outright darlin_' in dresses, what's that mean?' oh _where_ have those days gone?" she sobbed, wiping the nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes with the long sleeves of her tacky patterned sweater. "Gran-gran is _so_ heartbroken, oh ho…"

"I never said _that_, Grandma."

Of course, he might've, but it's been so long ago and most of his memories of those days were fuzzy with static. Although, he wouldn't put it past the possibility this was more of Grandma's delusions. Her tendency to do that was as often as she reread her paperback novels (which was very often).

After a few minutes of fruitless, he abandoned his search through all his drawers and the closet. All the while there was a nagging suspicion poking at the back of his mind (perhaps he should start listening to it). He stared at his grandmother incriminatingly who averted her gaze guiltily to the corners of the ceiling. She twiddled her thumbs quietly from where she sat on his desk chair.

"…Grandma…where did you hide them this time…?"

"I did no such thing."

"…"

"…"

"You put them in the attic again, didn't you?"

She said nothing but her gaze traveled to the door unconsciously.

Peeking out into the hallway and up at the ceiling, he saw a scrap of denim jean material trapped in the hastily closed trapdoor to the attic. Pulling on the worn knotted rope, the trapdoor dropped with a thud and a cloud of dust. He coughed briefly and held his breath until the dust settled.

A pile of jeans had been dumped haphazardly onto the steps and was now thinly layered with dust and other debris that had accumulated in the attic. Carefully, he picked through them for a clean pair that wasn't too dusty and unkempt. When he found a satisfactory pair, he closed the attic stairs, leaving the clean up of his jeans for later. He stepped back into his room to see his grandmother fooling around with his stereo's volume knob. It started blasting the lyrics from the song, _La Vie Boheme_, off the CD that Kairi burned and left in his player the other day.

"Don't touch that anymore, and please _leave_ so I can change," he grumbled and at the end of his rope, turning the volume back to a tolerable level and closing it. The old lady complied and skittered out of the room not before making a sound of disappointment, closing the door with a long, dramatically stretched creak behind her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"My, _my_! Don't you look absolutely _ravishing_, dear," she gushed in a happy bubbly manner as soon as he descended down the stairs and into view. He highly doubts this casual wear was 'ravishing' in any way.

"Why I could just lock you up in a glass case and keep you forever and ever, only then you wouldn't be able to go on your date, now would you?"

She ambled over, took hold of him by the shoulder and wheeled him around, pushing him to the sofa.

"Sit," she commanded. He did so, nervously. She fussed over him momentarily; fixing his collar or smoothing out a wrinkle. She took a seat across from him in her usual spot, checking the clock hanging on the wall every now and then.

Subconsciously, questions circled frantically through his head. Should he tell the girl outright that he was put up to this without warning and isn't in the mood to go out? Should he grin and bare it? Should he politely _accept_ this twist of fate and take her out? What if she _hates_ him? Or maybe she was some _really popular person_ who would take this chance to _humiliate_ him to all his peers? What if he embarrassed himself _right_ from the start? Where would they go? Was his hair decent? Why and when did he start caring?

He ran a hand through his brown hair uneasily. The clock's tick-tocks seemed to sound louder and sharper than before, only deadened by the sound of his rapid heartbeat.

He nearly jumped in his seat, startled, when the doorbell rang with a buzz.

"Oh! The dear is here!" the old woman squealed delighted and rushed to the door to answer it. Disappearing through the doorway, she reappeared seconds after to drag him with her when she realized he wasn't following.

"Ow! _Grandma_!" She had quite the grip for an old lady. He had no choice but to let her tow him along. The doorbell rang once more when they reached the door. She tiptoed and looked through the peephole to confirm that it was his date.

"Now, be a gentleman and greet your date _well-mannered_," she mumbled, fixing his clothes yet again and attempting to smooth his untamable hair down. She gave him a once over than announced he was ready as he'll ever be. "Make a good impression, go on now!"

Sora gulped apprehensively and took hold of the doorknob, unlocking the dead bolt with the other hand. He gripped it tightly in his clammy hand, breathing shallowly.

This is it. His first date. But, _who_ was on the other side of the door? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

He twisted the knob impossibly slowly. When it wouldn't and couldn't turn any further, he called upon his strength to push it forward but he found that he could not. He stood frozen in fear; the last of his strength deserting him like marbles out of a bottomless jar.

"What's _wrong_ with you, dear? _Open the door_," he heard barely audible from behind him. Unexpectedly, a hand slapped him on the back in what he assumed was an encouraging manner, knocking him out of his stupor and consequently through the door, crashing into whomever was on the other side.

"_Whoa_ there, are you okay?" a smooth warm voice said from above him. Instead of tumbling into a smaller person and onto the sidewalk in a tangle of limbs, his face had hit a soft cushiony surface that withstood the momentum of his fall. A strong arm wrapped itself around his midriff to stop him from toppling over to the side. Hesitantly and timidly, Sora looked up at the tall figure that halted his fall. Being too close up, all he could see was deep inquiring viridian eyes through a thin veil of silvery hair. Hastily he struggled to stand up, flushed in the face from embarrassment.

"I-I'm so sorry! I-I…um…" he stuttered hysterically, his vision flitting everywhere in a panic. His embarrassment rushed up to his face in the form of a blush.

"Whoa, calm down, it's _okay_, just be more careful next time," the stranger said. The brunet stopped his distraught ramblings and looked, really looked this time, at the person on his doorstep. With reproach, he blinked several times to dispel the illusion in front of him. But it was unmistakably reality standing in front of him.

It was unmistakably a teenager. A _male_ teenager with long silver hair and quite a bit of height on him. Though he hates to admit it, or at least he thought he did, the teen before him was remarkably handsome in a cool composed way (Like those popular cool guys at school that are cool because they don't care). He stood out notably from the darkening winter sky and buildings behind him in his white jacket. His green eyes flashed amused in the porch light.

He must've stared longer than he thought as the stranger smirked insightfully and looked him over as well. He wasn't…_checking him out_, was he? He shook his head. He did _not_ just check out another _guy_ and the other _guy_ was so _not_ checking him out as well. All this consecutive randomness was probably playing tricks on him.

"Um…how may I help you…?" the flustered teen started slowly, regaining what little he had of his composure.

"Well, I suppose I'm here to ta-"

"Oh! You look _lovely_, dearie!" his grandma blurted, making her presence known midway through his sentence. "Now now, Sora! Let your guest in before _all_ the heat escapes from the house. Your mother will have your head if you tripled the gas bill. Come on, move it, you're _blocking_ the way, Sora dear." She quickly ushered the two of them inside to the sitting room in an instant. Almost with supernatural talent, she carried a tray of tea into the room almost immediately after she left the two of them to settle in. She proceeded to pour the three of them a cup of steaming tea. Sora deftly noted that she had taken out her best set of blue China.

"A spot of tea, dear?" she asked, humming softly to herself.

"Ah, no, I'm fine, thank you," the stranger declined respectfully. "Actually, Mrs. Wilson, I'm here to clear up a misunderstanding, I'm afraid you've mistaken, I'm not a g-"

"_Nonsense_, dear, a spot of tea will do you good in this wintry weather, drink up, drink up, there's more where that came from, loosen up there, Sora dear, there's no need to be _nervous_, what's your name again, sweetie?"

"Riku, Ma'am," he said. He tentatively brought the cup to his lips and took a quick sip to be courteous.

Sora took this chance to speak up but noticed that Riku was doing the same and stopped immediately. Riku did too.

"Please, you first," he said.

"Oh no, go ahead," Sora found himself saying. He didn't remember another time when he was this well mannered. Perhaps it was the presence of this guest that brought it upon him.

"No no, please, _you_ first," he protested stubbornly.

"No, _you_," the brunet countered unusually vehemently. He was up for more squabbles when his grandmother interjected.

"_Aw_, how cute, they say arguments are part of healthy relationships, I can see you two will do fine, _ohohoho_," she chuckled, good-naturedly, mixing sugar and milk into her cup. Blowing the heated liquid cooler, she breathed in the rich aroma of the leaves and sighed happily.

"You haven't touched your tea, dearie."

"I'm not thirsty," Sora stated simply. "Grandma, is _he_ my," he paused here, unsure of himself, '_date_?"

"Oh course, dearie. Now drink your tea." He picked up the cup of tea carefully but did not take a drink.

"But, Grandma…he's a…_guy_…" He was a guy, right? With the way things have been going anything could be possible. His eyes roamed over Riku's features once more to scatter the last of his doubt, if there were any left, to the nonexistent wind.

"Really now?"

"…"

"Ah, I need to get something, one moment please, take the time to get to know each other while I'm gone," she stated, leaving promptly after but reappeared around the corner and added with a sweet smile, "Don't do anything, coughcough…ahem, while I'm gone, okay?"

The room steadily grew unsettlingly quiet.

Involuntarily, Sora began to fidget with his sweater's zipper, unable to conjure up any plausible action he could do. The silence stretched longer, unbearably tense.

"So…" they both began, abruptly. Sora blushed and turned his head away. There was more silence only broken moments later by the silver haired teen.

"Um…Sora, was it?"

"Y-yes."

"…how old are you?" he said, trying to start any kind of conversation. This made him smile ever so slightly despite the awkwardness of the situation.

"Sixteen since the summer. You?"

"I'm a bit older than you by a few months." He smiled good-naturedly, stirring his cup of tea with the small metal spoon. 

"Um...I…uh…I'm…really sorry…" the shorter boy started uncertainly," about my grandma, that is…she's a little…_odd_…and doesn't have the best of sight nor hearing…"

"No need to be sorry, I suppose I do look a _tad_ girly…" He touched the strands of long silver tresses resting on his shoulder.

"Not at all!"

Riku looked at him delighted in his antics. Realizing what he had just said, Sora clapped a hand over his mouth, mortified. He didn't mean to say that out loud.

"I…uh….I mean…um…well…"

A soft chuckle issued from the other teen. It was a nice soothing sound. Reflexively, Sora started laughing too though it was more of a giggle.

After the short giggling-fest, his grandmother returned clutching the daily post.

"I see, you've hit off well enough," she said with overwhelming approval. Her strangely keen-looking eyes darted back and forth between them. In quick strides she was at Sora's side when she dexterously pulled at the collar of his jacket and t-shirt with a finger and inspected the sides of his neck.

"W-what are you doing, grandma?!" Sora squeaked as his grandma hummed calculatingly. She promptly released him and answered, "Oh nothing. Nothing at all." But she held a distinct air of disappointment.

Sora blinked owlish at the silent chuckles that had overcome Riku across from him. The knowing grin he displayed afterwards left Sora decidedly out of the loop. He pouted and folded his arms childishly.

Nevertheless, she unfurled the newspaper she had fetched to a certain page. "Anyhow, I've taken the liberty to make reservations…_here_." She flashed the newspaper ad at them merrily.

Sora stared blankly at it making sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him (again).

"Grandma…you can't make reservations at Micky D's…"

She squinted at the paper and frowned.

"I swear it was this page." She flipped through it and held it out for them look at again.

"Here it is."

"You got us reservations at the _Delfino Sea Side Café_?"

"Uh huh," she confirmed, proudly.

"…how did you pull that off? That place is so _damn_ fancy it's always booked for months!"

"We all have our secrets…" she said, enigmatically. It ran a shiver up his back and he glanced nervously away from his grandmother for a moment. She sure is a mystery, especially when she wants to be.

"The reservations are at half past eight so don't be late," she said, rolling up the paper. "It's such a hassle to help you youngsters along."

"Then you shouldn't have-"

"Why it was I who matched Sora's parents together, they were _such_ a lovely couple and still are! Don't you think they conceived the _loveliest_ child, Riku dear?" she rambled on, ignoring him completely.

"Yes, Mrs. Wilson," Riku replied. Sora swore he sounded almost sincere about it.

"Of course, back in the day, the youngsters dressed more eccentrically so though _sensibly_. Not as revealing too. The styles of dress these days, you wouldn't believe the trouble I had to go through to pick out his outfit, the dear wouldn't accept any of my choices and those _jeans_, why would you need so many pairs of jeans anyways? Where's the variety? The bright colours that scream out your individualism." She turned reproving to her grandson. "You should get some of those white jeans like your cousin. Switch it up a little, no?"

"I like my jeans just fine, grandma."

"I still think the dress was better," she mumbled audibly, lifting her cup to drink. "Oh, did I just say that out loud now? Ohohoho…"

"Grandma!" he squeaked, humiliated and quite speechless. Leave it to her to bring out the worse of topics. He looked to Riku to see his reaction and was surprised to see him grinning at him in amusement. Was his grandmother trying to embarrass him for life?

She put down her cup on the table with a loud clack and said, "Now shoo, go and have what you teenagers call fun."

She directed them to and out the door, grabbing Sora's charcoal black-grey jacket on the way. She shooed them down the front steps onto the pedestrian walk. Without much purpose, they paced slowly away from the old building, the red-bricked walls overcast by long tall shadows. She called out after them with unusual enthusiasm.

"You have fun now, dears! And don't do anything _inappropriate_!"

The door slammed shut, leaving them out in the cold.

"Well then…………where to first?"

"Um……uh…" Sora began. Suddenly, a vibrating came from inside his jacket pocket and he pulled out a blue cell phone from within it. He flipped it open casually, reading the most recent text message quickly. He groaned at what he saw, hitting his forehead with his other hand.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, concerned and curious. He looked over the shorter boy's shoulder at the message on the cell's screen.

"It's my friend, Kairi. She's being insufferable and _constantly_ reminding me to bring my…date to the outdoor skating rink she works at…constantly enough to send me…_fourteen_ text messages!"

After the auburn hair girl found out about this affair she immediately suggested various places of interests to go to on dates including things like, he shuddered, 'Lovers Point' and such, places Sora would never dare to go with or without date at night or in broad daylight.

"Skating rink, huh? That sounds fun, I wouldn't mind going." He flashed him a brilliant smile that made him his face feel warm regardless of the cold weather around him. Calming his strangely fast-beating heart, he led the way to the local park.

"I'm really _really_ sorry about my grandma…you don't really _have_ to go through with this, you know…"

"Nah, it's okay, I have nothing to do tonight anyways, what say we at least be friends? You don't want to disappoint your grandma, do you?"

"I guess not..."

Up ahead a horde of people was flowing steadily in and out of the bustling store at the corner. Each little group chattered happily in loud boisterous voices about the festive happenings about the town, discussing presents and parties.

"It's the Bubble Tea joint," Sora murmured quietly to himself though he was sure, even through the deafening racket, Riku heard him as well.

The corner store was famous for its wide variety of Bubble Tea and sold them every hour of the day, every day of the year. It was one of the most frequented places by teenagers all year round. There was never a dull moment nor a quiet one either.

"Want to grab one? It's still pretty early, it'll be a while before we can go for dinner," Riku offered. Happily, Sora nodded and rummaged through his pocket for his wallet.

"No, don't bother, it's on me," the taller teen said, grabbing the searching wrist before he could protest and pulled him along towards the joint. When they got to the front window, they could see the place flooded and packed full with people, sitting, standing, or queuing up. The noise was loud even from the outside.

"Hmm, maybe we should let clear up a little first…" Sora suggested. The green eyed teen beside him agreed and stood with him under the light of the corner lamp post where it was less affected by the flow of people. The door to the shop swung back and forth frequently making the little bell ring every now and then unheard. Someone with blond hair and a long black trench coat-like jacket stepped out, immediately given way by the people entering. Various local girls squealed and chattered amongst themselves while indiscreetly pointing at him. Sora recognized who it was the moment he saw him and called out to him.

"Roxas!" The blond turned his head towards the call of his name and spotted his cousin at the lamppost and strolled over with a plastic cup of Bubble Tea.

"Sora. Fancy meeting you here at such an hour _alone_," he greeted placidly. His cool blue eyes darted to the one at Sora's side, regarding him with utmost and undisguised distrust.

"Oh, I'm not alone, I have Riku here with me," Sora explained, gesturing to the tall teen next to him, oblivious to the darkening atmosphere. Roxas' eyes narrowed skeptically at Riku with an analyzing gaze.

"Riku, is it?" he said, voice brittle with frigidness.

"Yes, you would be Roxas, correct?" Riku replied with a crisp edge to his words. They glared silently at each other for a while until Sora waved a hand in between them to get their attention.

"What's wrong with you two?" They averted their gaze from his. Riku was the first of the two to speak.

"I'll go order us some Bubble Tea while you two catch up then…what flavor do you want?"

"Um…Strawberry Banana I guess." He nodded and squeezed into the main stream of traffic entering the café. Sora waved until he could no longer see him in the midst of the crowd.

"Where'd you meet him?"

"Huh?" Roxas rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"That Riku guy, never seen him before."

"Oh, um…you see," Sora began uncertainly. He quickly told him all about his grandmother's meddling and the misunderstanding that took place.

Upon here this, Roxas could only sigh exasperated and lean against the lamppost behind him obviously in disbelief. He didn't reply, probably processing all this information in his head.

"Enough about me!" Sora said, bringing up a different, hopefully more comfortable topic. "You're back early from the main city. I thought you wouldn't return until noon tomorrow!"

Roxas smirked, closing his eyes to the blinding fluorescent lights of the café and shoved his free hand in his jacket pocket.

"Well, I decided to come back a little earlier than planned mainly because I couldn't stand the place. You wouldn't believe how many times I got…hit on. This annoying one preppy girl in skimpy clothing kept following me _every_ time I entered her neighborhood, asking for my number and the size of pants I wear. I swear she has the persistence of a _freaking_ elbow leech. Tailed me for half an hour each time."

"Oh that sounds terrible."

"Believe me, it was _more_ than terrible," he scoffed. Sora smiled. Roxas always tended to make things seem much worse than they were.

"So what did you do?" Knowing him, he probably threatened her or something of the same sort.

"I told her I was gay."

"…_What_?!"

The blond teen ignored his relative's outburst and adjusted the collar of his insulated coat as the breeze picked up.

"You…aren't…really…? Not that I mind, I mean, you normally always tell me these things before hand…"

"What? No. She backed off right away though. _Completely_ freaked. _Sucker_." Roxas laughed harshly. Beside him, Sora laughed reluctantly watching his warm breath materialized as white mist floating off into the night.

"Man, it's cold…" the blond teen grumbled, searching through his long jacket's inner pocket. A metal lighter tumbled out and dropped with a clack on the pavement. Cursing in an undertone, Roxas hastily squatted to the ground to pick it up. He flicked it open and lit it to make sure it still worked then inspected it for scratches or dents.

"Since when did you start smoking, Roxas? You know what it can do to your health and come to think of it since when did you start wearing oversized long black coats. What happened to white?" Sora inquired. Roxas didn't reply straight away but pocketed it.

"It's not mine." This caught the brunet's attention.

"Then whose…?"

"…"

"Tell me, Roxas, come on," he whined, tugging on the other's jacket's sleeve. He hated it when he kept things from him.

"It's Axel's."

"Who?"

"Axel. He stalked me home all the way from the main city."

"…Seriously?"

"Yeah, I've…bumped into him a couple times before, that idiot…I thought he was kidding when he said he'd follow me home and live in my closet if I didn't stay. Anyways, I just came out to get away from all the commotion he was stirring up at my house. I must've grabbed his jacket from the coat rack by mistake…" The door swung open once again accompanied with several shrill girly squeals announcing the arrival of Riku now bearing two plastic sealed cups.

"I should leave, the last thing Axel was discussing with _my_ friends at _my_ home was a welcome party…he's probably trashing the place this instant, I should get back before I find my house burned down or worse, see you. And keep your guard up."

With that said, he was whisked off into the crowds and into the night before anyone could say another word.

"Here." A plastic sealed cup was handed to him. Surprised, Sora fumbled with it for a moment before holding it firmly in his hands.

"T-thank you…"

"No problem." Riku handed him a thick round blue straw and jabbed a green one his own, taking a long drink. He did the same, mulling over the previous conversation he had. A hand clasped his shoulder gently and he looked up to Riku's smiling face.

"Let's get out of here," he said as another stream of people came by and jostled them a bit, pushing them closer than necessary.

"Y-yeah."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Moments later found them strolling through the park in the middle of the small town. The trees bare of their leaves shivered in the cold whenever a breeze whisked by but otherwise stood idle. The darkness of the path was illuminated dimly only by the distantly placed street lamps.

"It's cold tonight," Sora remarked weakly as a conversation starter. He rubbed his hands together to provide a little warmth after he tossed the empty plastic cup in a nearby trashcan. He sorely wished that he had remembered to bring his gloves.

"Yeah," Riku said, grinning. "It's cold back from where I come from too. Maybe even colder."

"Really? What's it like there, at your hometown I mean."

"It's more crowded, busier, drearier…" he said, gloomy. "This place though, it's a nice change. It's way warmer here."

"This is warm?" Sora grumbled, blowing more hot air on his frozen hands.

"Yup, why I could go out on one of the coldest days back at my old place, throw a cup of water into the air and it'll all freeze before it hits the ground."

"Really?" the shorter teen gasped, looking at his companion, enraptured.

"Haha…no, but it's a heck lot colder than here," Riku replied, chuckling lightly at his naiveté. Sora pouted, upset that he was led on so easily.

"See here," he said, grasping the younger boy's hand in his. "My hands are warmer since they're use to colder weather."

He was right; the other boy's hands were much warmer than his hands. He kind of liked the feeling of Riku's hands holding his. It felt…

He snapped out of his daze and realized that they had stopped walking, hands still linked. His cheeks blazed with fiery red embarrassment as he quickly pulled his hands back, shoving them into his cold pockets. Hopefully he can pass it off as healthy colour developed from the cold.

"U-um…the skating rink isn't far now…" he stuttered, clumsily, face tilted downwards to stare at the cool frost covered pavement.

"Then let's go," the silver haired teen said patting him lightly on the shoulder of his jacket to urge him forward along the path.

As soon as they got to the section where the path turned sharply around the cluster of densely grown trees, the sound of human chatter washed over them like a lukewarm wave. They were surprised they couldn't hear them earlier.

A large pond was situated in the middle of the clearing, completely frozen over. Dozens of teenagers and adults alike skimmed across its surface on metal bladed skates, tracing curves into the ice. Strapped expertly to the high branches of tall trees were bright stadium lights that lit up the surrounding area. Over to the side, a wooden stand was erected. A banner was hung from the top baring the words, Skate Rental Shop in bold florescent orange paint fringed with black to make them readable. It hurts to stare at them for too long. Behind the stand were dozens of shelves packed full of shoes and skates, roped off with yellow nylon cords. A long trail of excitable people lined up at the front.

One of the two people working at the stand waved them over. It was Kairi, clad in a maroon apron with two bold double S's stamped on the top corner in white, a red turtleneck and dark rinsed denim jeans. As they approached, they grew weary of the people in line they were passing, many of which did not look all too happy.

"Ignore them, they'll get over it eventually," the auburn haired girl said, leaning forward on the stand's table when they came into speaking range. A girl that looked surprisingly similar to Kairi came out from the maze of shelves with two pairs of slightly beaten skates. The white Christmas lights strung through the place illuminated her blonde hair with a soft glow. Silvery tinsel was laced in her hair and safety-pinned with evident haste onto the sides of her white cotton trousers.

"Here you are, please remember to bring back the skates to get your shoes back," she said in an amicable manner, laying them on the table counter. The pair of teenagers both unmistakably female dressed in dark clothing next to them at the counter nodded in thanks and took the skates from her, leaving to make way for the next customers. As soon as the two left, she noticed them.

"Hello, you two must be the ones Kairi were expecting," she stated matter-of-factly, she turned away briefly to address the next customers, "That's two pairs of size 8's? That'll be $10 for rentals and admission please."

She took the money from the twin brothers, they appeared to be at least, and stuck it in the metal moneybox. She flashed them a warm smile before disappearing into the back again.

"That's Naminé, you know, the girl from the other homeroom? She has economics with me," Kairi explained briefly. She ducked under the table and drew out a pair of skates in excellent condition. She deftly gave them a quick sharpening before holding them out to them.

"I took the liberty to save you some decent skates, Sora," she said, as he reached out to take them. "But I wasn't sure of the shoe size of your,' she paused and eyed Riku at his side, 'companion."

"Shoes." They hurriedly scrambled to take off their shoes and give them to the girl. Luckily the area around the stand was carpeted with several planks of wood that lead to two benches and not the icy frost coated grass. They handed their shoes to Kairi who took them by their laces swiftly. She placed Sora's somewhere behind the counter out of sight, probably in the same place she pulled his skates out.

With professional ease, she pulled back the flap of Riku's runners and glanced at the shoe size stamped on the tag sewn on the underside.

"Hmm, we don't have any more of this size available but I'm sure we bought a couple new ones this morning," she said digging into her memories. "I'm sure they're in the boxes in the back. You," she pointed at Riku who raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Put your shoes back on and come help me find them; I won't be able to lift those boxes all by myself." She pressed his shoes back into his hands as Naminé came back with two pair of size 8's which she exchanged for her customers' shoes.

"Can you take the counter by yourself? I have to find Sora's _companion_ skates from the new stock."

Sora huffed angrily as Naminé nodded, not particularly liking the way Kairi had said 'companion'. He pouted as they disappeared into the back.

"Do you like marine life? There's Koi fish in the lake normally, I wonder if we're bothering their sleep by skating on the ice top. What do you think?" the blonde girl said suddenly and ominously started to hum a familiar song from a certain Disney movie as she scribbled something onto the pad of paper in front of her. Sora blinked in confusion.

"Uh…I'm not sure," he said but his words were lost in the loud proclamation by the next customer who hopped enthusiastically on his feet subdued only by the cluster of his friends vying for his attention. He slapped his shoes onto the counter and announced his shoe size in an overly energetic manner.

Just then the brunet noticed the return of Riku and Kairi out of the corner of his eyes from the dark aisles of skates and shoes. They appeared to be engaged in a heated discussion, or argument, and, whichever it was, it appeared that Kairi was winning.

Sora, eager to listen in on what they were so distressed about, was disappointed when they stopped talking as they came into hearing distance. He was about to speak up and ask when someone laid a warm hand on his shoulder.

Naminé smiled kindly at him and said, "You should get those skates on, there's an empty bench over there."

Flustered, Sora did as he was told and toddled over to a bench and began lacing the skates. He glanced back at the stand to see that Kairi had started talking again, prodding firmly Riku in the shoulder to make her point.

Feeling decidedly left out (for more than once that day), the spiky haired teen finished up quickly and hobbled over to the frozen pond. It was thriving with people, gliding by each other in pairs, trios or groups.

He stared at the marred surface of the ice and swallowed hard. It has been a long time since he last had been skating and even back then he was not very graceful about it either, plus there was always someone to grab hold of whenever the situation calls for it.

With one last wistful glance at the bickering pair, he stared down the ice with fierce determination, dazing out for a moment.

He didn't need anyone to help him, he remarked inwardly with sudden resolve. He certainly didn't need _someone_ to be with him by his side if he fell. He can do this on his own. Absolutely.

With those words filling his head and chanting them like a mantra, he took a bold step onto the ice.

It took less than a second for him to fall backwards, arms flung into the air without time to think or yell. In the instant this occurred, and before he fell to the ground, he felt strong arms catch and support him from behind just like how they did earlier in the day.

Sora looked up gratefully at Riku's smiling face then pouted angrily when he realized that Riku was actually smirking.

How did he get there so fast anyways?!

"Don't smirk at me!" he huffed indignantly. Struggling, he put other foot firmly on the ice, wrenching himself from the silver haired boy's grasp, this time without falling. He held his arms out and steadied himself.

"I'd like to see _you_ do better…" he grumbled, arms crossed now that he had his balance. To his annoyance, Riku stepped onto the ice without hesitation and steadily, his smirk growing. Sora hmmphed and turned his face away. Out of the corner of his eye, a hand was extended to him.

"Would the lady like some lessons in composure whilst we are about the rink?" he asked fancifully in a teasing tone. When Sora made a noise of discontent of his behavior, he continued to speak, circling him on the ice. "It would be rude and discourteous of me if I let you fall when I was in reaching distance, now wouldn't it?"

"Well than, _sir_," Sora snapped. "If you wouldn't mind then-"

Out of the blue, a flailing teenaged girl collided into him from behind as she went by, knocking him off balance yet again and clipped the side of his head with her elbow. And, once again, he was caught promptly by the older teen. It's going to turn into a habit, he knew it.

"Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Sora nodded mutely, head still ringing a little from the blow.

Maybe a little help would be nice.

He righted himself, grabbing onto Riku's forearms who looked a little confused at this motion.

"Well? Help me than, _Sir_" the brunet retorted. "Or are you not man enough to keep a promise?" His feet slipped from underneath him momentarily once again but his strong grip of the other's forearms held him upright.

"Very well then, m'lady," he replied with a smirk. "Shall we start with the elementary steps of this fine sport?" With a growl of disapproval (and a pout) from the short brunet, they slowly worked their way across the ice, arms intertwined.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The glass door swung open soundlessly as they stepped into the fancy, suave seaside café. Soft classical music issued from the state of the art speakers installed into the ceiling panels. Everyone spoke in subdued, quiet voices as if attending a theatrical play. A young waiter in uniform came up to greet them.

"Welcome to Delfino, do you have a reservation?" he inquired, politely, bowing his head.

"Yes, we're here under this name…" Riku pulled out a slip of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to the waiter who took it and looked it over. "I believe this fellow here's' he pointed at Sora,' grandmother made the reservation."

"Right, right," agreed the waiter, who crossed out something in the big black leather covered book of reservations. "Right this way then please."

Sora followed awkwardly behind the two men, observing the elegant interior design of the restaurant. Everything was draped in mellow green, red and white colours. Each table had a sprig of holly and mistletoe as a centerpiece. Sora also noticed uncomfortably that everybody here were couples. Some of them looked up as they passed, making comments in low tones when they were out of earshot.

The brunet fidgeted nervously until they reached their table at the practically deserted corner of the restaurant. He was ushered to sit down, his back to the rest of the café to his relief.

Riku plopped down on the seat across from him on the small table. He removed his jacket and draped it on the back of the chair. He smiled at him curiously and said, "You cold or something?"

"Huh?"

He looked at himself and then hastily shed his jacket with embarrassment all the while Riku watched him as though thoroughly entertained.

The waiter came over and announced his presence to them, handing each of them menus encased in leather.

Sora dearly wished that he could go through the dinner without incident.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I'll be right back, bathroom," Sora excused himself after a surprisingly delightful meal. With a lighter heart that his luck was changing, he pushed his chair back to get up. Unknown to him, a waiter balancing two large platters of seafood happened to be behind him at the time and needless to say, the two collided.

"_Oof_!"

Sora toppled to the floor onto the posh velvety carpet which deadened his fall. The waiter was not so fortunate. The two heavily laden platters toppled faster than a card tower and ended more disastrously, bits and pieces flying everywhere. The waiter keeled backwards in a desperate attempt at preserving the meals he was catering and smashed into and through the glass of the tank that held the lobsters. Chilly water flooded out with the force of an open dam onto the floors as rich ladies clambered onto the seats of their chairs to keep their expensive chic dresses and designer shoes from getting wet.

"Come on!" someone called through the commotion, seizing Sora by the arms and yanking him to his feet. Dazed by what had happened the brunet let the other drag him through the restaurant of shrieking customers and out the front door. Only after a couple minutes did he realize that it was Riku who was leading him away, silver hair waving side to side as he ran.

Stumbling after him and somehow managing not to trip, they slowed to a stop on the frost covered beach far from the restaurant. Out of breath, both collapsed onto the frozen silt, breathing erratic.

"Are…you…okay?" Sora choked between the deep breaths his lungs forced him to take.

"I…feel like…a hypothetic two-headed hippopotamus…leaped out of the fourth dimension, bounced off my chest, and…back in again…"

Sora couldn't help but chuckle at the prospect of that despite being out of breath.

After they recuperated from their flight, they sat up and brushed the sand and frost from their clothing, the waves almost reaching their shoes as they washed up the shore. Smoothing out Sora's black coat which was creased when Riku hastily grabbed it on their way out, he draped it onto the younger boy's shoulder who smiled appreciatively back at him. He put it on and zipped it up to his neck to ward off the cold that was penetrating his skin after the rush of heat in his body cooled down.

A calm silence washed over them as they gazed at the nearly full moon. A tiny crab scuttled across the mounds of sands and rushed into surf.

"You know," Riku started. "We never got to eat that mango pudding."

"Yeah…" Sora agreed absentmindedly. Then he remembered something. "Oh my gosh! The bill!" Riku placed a hand on his shoulder to ease his panic and get his attention.

"Don't worry, I paid before we left, I'm no criminal even though a lot of girls, and I mean _a lot_, claimed that I stole their hearts."

"A lady killer, huh?"

"So it seems. But I guess you don't have to worry about that happening to you, huh?" Riku hopped to his feet, dusting his jeans off and extended a hand to the other boy who accepted it graciously.

"You cold? You did get wet from the water that spilled from the tank," the silver haired teen asked, concerned for his well being. Sora smiled and shook his head but was overcome by shivers.

"Lying now, are we?" Riku chuckled and draped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "You'll catch hypothermia or pneumonia if you don't warm up or get some dry clothing."

"I think…I'll be okay if it's like this," Sora murmured. Embarrassed by what he said (for it sounded so cheesy and corny), Sora hid his face in his hands in shame.

"Haha! You're so cute," Riku laughed. "That's what I like about you, so easily embarrassed. Makes me want to tease you more."

"I-I'm not easily embarrassed!" Sora retorted, attempting a glare but only achieving a pout. Riku leaned in close, his face mere inches from the brunet's reddening face.

"Really?" he said huskily. Sora swallowed hard and held his gaze in what he hoped was a defiant way. Aware that they were very close, Sora was as red as his face could get. He dimly wondered what this would look like to a bystander.

It would've been a terribly romantic moment if Riku didn't do what he did next.

He licked him.

On the tip of his nose.

"Hey!" he squeaked defensively.

"Hahaha…!" Riku laughed, clutching at his stomach, almost in tears from his merriment. "You're too cute, seriously, Sora."

Sora huffed and crossed his arms fuming. He tried to still his shiver that was coming back now that the body warmth of the older teen was absent.

He didn't need Riku and his warmth. He can go on by himself.

Despite repeating this in his head like a holy mantra, he continued to tremble uncontrollably.

The warmth came back when he was encircled once again by Riku's arms.

"Oh come on, aren't you going to prove me wrong?" he teased, leaning his cheek onto the side of his spiky chestnut brown locks.

"Hmmph." Sora turned his head away angrily and stared in the distance along the stretch of moonlit sand before he caught sight of a rather familiar figure jogging slowing closer to them.

"Oh no."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"It's my science teacher, he's so nosy and he practically lives on making his students' private lives a mess. He'll probably have some delusion that I'm clueless and naïve. If he catches me out with a so-called 'person who is older and bigger than I am and don't know all too well', he'll berated on how I don't know all the dangers I could encounter like I'm some sort of wimpy, helpless…ugh, _damsel-in-distress kind-of girl_!"

"And you're not?"

"Of course not! Do I look one?!"

"Well, if I tilt my head to the left and squint a little…ow!" Riku rubbed the sore spot his shoulder where Sora punched him. Fortunately the impact was absorbed mostly by his white jacket. Not that it was a strong punch in the first place. No offence.

"I'll _never_ hear the end of it! He's going to call my mother like that time he spotted Roxas and me at the park at midnight when we just came back from the city after we missed our bus…"

"Sounds like a bothersome pain in the neck," Riku remarked. Sora was inclined to agree with the description. "But…I won't be a 'person who is older and bigger than you and don't _know_ too well' if you did _know_ me well…" There was much eyebrow wiggling.

"Don't kid about that, Riku."

"Who says I'm kidding."

"Riku!"

Riku chuckled in his hand but became alert in an instant. "Incoming."

"Oh no! Hide me! Ack, it's no use! He's probably seen me by now!" Sora babbled frantically, pulling at his spiky brown locks.

"Shush!" Riku hushed. With one smooth fluid movement, he pulled Sora close to him and slipped the hood of Sora's black winter coat onto his head. He leaned down, forehead to forehead to hide each other's face, keeping a narrow eyed watch on the middle aged man jogging by in his limited vision.

The man who was indeed Sora's science teacher, and a rather meddlesome one I might add, lingered briefly as he jogged by the _couple_. Sighing deeply with wistful longing, he muttered in the night, loud enough though for all three to hear it clearly.

"Ah, young love…" He shook his head, a touch of a foolish smile gracing his face.

And then he was off, leaving only his footprints in the sand as evidence that he'd been there.

Riku watched him jog away to a safe distance with sharp sea green eyes, following his every step.

"He's gone, Sora," he said when he deemed that he was far enough away. "Sora?"

Blushing very much like a damsel-in-distress, Sora, being in such close proximity with the good-looking teen, was extremely flustered and confused at why he was acting this way. One hand was absentmindedly rubbing at his cheek as if trying to rub the red off.

Riku is just helping him, why is he feeling so funny in his tummy? Maybe it was something he ate.

"Sora?"

"Eh?" Sora looked up then squeaked, realizing that Riku had not pulled away yet.

Riku, who seemed to have realized the same, stood up straight so he could easily look over the brunet's head, cheeks lightly dusted with red, his arms still encircled him, holding the brunet close.

"Uh…" he started sheepishly, averting his eyes a little. They could've stood there all night like that if not for Riku's memory rushing back to him. "Oh!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Sora asked, confused, his brow knitted together. The silver haired teen looked around them as though searching for something. A sudden change in expression and Riku grabbed onto Sora's arm out of the blue firmly with a hand.

"Come with me. There's something I want to show you."

"W-what?" Sora stuttered, trailing behind the older teen along the stretch of beach.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A couple minutes of light jogging across the sand later, they stopped at the end of the beach where it began to turn into forest. Cutting a ragged dotted line through the pristine water was an arc of boulders creating a curved makeshift path to a small island. The tide, still rising steadily, covered most of the trail.

With an agile jump, Riku hopped onto the first large flat-topped boulder poking out of the salty sea. An incoming wave splashed against its side.

"Are you coming?" Riku asked, extending a hand down to him.

"Um…" Without room to protest, the silver haired teen took him by the hand and pulled him up to stand beside him. Standing precariously on the rock, Sora reached out and grabbed onto the other's forearm tightly, afraid of falling into the freezing surf.

Slowly but steadily they made their way across the water stone by stone and in almost no time at all they touched down on the soft silt of the island's beach.

The moon's soft beams of white reflected light shone on the surface of the beach lighting their way as they clambered up the slope seawards. Unable to resist, Sora glanced back the way they came, surprised by what he saw.

"Ah! The rocks…"

Obeying the laws of the moon's gravitational pull, the tide rose high enough to submerge most of the remaining stepping stones as midnight drew closer. In short, they were trapped for an indefinite amount of time on the island until the tide receded.

"Don't worry about it," Riku said reassuringly, still holding firmly onto the brunet's hand. "Come on, it's not far."

Brimming with curiosity, Sora trudged on along the dirt pathway worn down through the years by the shoes of small children. Wooden ladders stood, leaned against large trees here and there as well as battered wooden swords abandoned in the undergrowth.

The small fresh-water waterfall was a dazzling and utterly breathtaking sight. Frozen from the low temperature with the moonbeam's refracting against its crystalline surfaces, it looked like pillar of solid diamond, its beauty fortified in contrast to the drab, wild woods that grew surrounding it.

As midnight drew near, they sighted their destination, a small island off the original island connected by a wooden bridge. A tree with a large curved trunk grew on the island as though grown for purpose of being sat on.

"Wow…" Sora breathed, in the years he had been on this little island he had never been here in the dead of the night in the winter. The large leaves on the tree glistened with ice crystals, clinging to edges of the plant. Everything seemed to glitter around them.

Something tugged at the back of Sora's mind at that moment, churning the settling anxiety within him.

Should he really be here alone with this person? He only met him this afternoon and he barely knew him at all. What's to say this wasn't all an act and that he was planning to do something horribly unmentionable to him?

_But_, he reasoned_, nothing bad has happened so far, right? And it felt kind of…nice being around Riku. He seems like a nice person even if he does tease me a lot_.

But that's besides the point, even if he didn't have any bad intentions, isn't this scenario exactly like that in grandmother's romance novels? What if they actually-No, no, he wouldn't…could he?

"Sora?"

"Eh?" Sora squeaked, snapping out of his internal conflict. His cheeks flushed red, embarrassed that he zoned out and of the things his brain dared to conjure.

"You got all dazed there for a second, are you sick? You might've caught a cold," Riku muttered, reaching up with his free hand to feel his forehead. "You don't feel too hot…"

"I'm fine!" he yelped, shying away from the contact then added in a quiet subdued voice, "Thank you for your concern…"

"Well, if you're sure…" Riku said unconvinced.

"I-I am. Really," he stuttered, wavering in confidence. Fueled by his embarrassment, he towed Riku the rest of the way to the small island across the wooden bridge.

He was being silly. Riku would never do such things to him, _with him_. Sora chewed on his lower lip nervously. He was in over his head.

Shoes crunching the hardening frost of the frozen grass, they reached the curiously curved tree. Riku brushed the ice crystals off the top and clambered on. Kneeling on a knee, he grasped the younger boy's freezing hand his warm one and pulled him up.

The moon now full and in the middle of the sky lit up the ever rolling waves of the ocean, reflecting where it could. There was a serene silence only interrupted by the soft splash of water against the land, the rustling of the trees and the slow, steady breathiness of inhaling and exhaling.

Pulling his attention from the white moon in the sky, Sora turned his gaze to Riku about to thank him for the good time, his words dying on his lips. Face upwards towards the pitch blue-black sky, speckled lightly with stars, Riku's complexion was lit up by the moonshine, catching the lighter parts of his silvery hair. Sea-green eyes closed to the world, he looked as if he were sleeping.

He looked down at the wood of the tree they were seated upon; his fingers found marks cut into its bark which for a moment distracted him from his previous thoughts.

"Hey…Riku…?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, peeping an eye open to see Sora inspecting something on the tree.

"What does…'_yaoi'_…mean?" Sora enunciated carefully, reading the four lettered word the best he could carved into the plant. The word _'island'_ was etched alongside it as well as little heart.

"Umm…you don't want to know."

"I don't?"

"No, you don't," Riku assured him, scratching his coloured cheek with a finger. He looked a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," Sora blurted out, twiddling his fingers and looking down at his lap. "You don't have to tell me."

"It's not that, well, it's just…" he broke off uncertainly. "Sora…"

"Hmm?" Sora tilted his head to the side. He blinked as one of Riku's hands touched his shoulder gently. "What is it?"

"I-"

Off in the distance, the shrill whistle of a lit firework went off, exploding into a red flower of lights in the sky. One after another in white, blue, green, multitudes of other colours detonated, showering the dark space above the water in glimmering lights and the air was filled with bang after bang.

"Wow," Sora gasped, eyes wide in amazement as a golden yellow chrysanthemum bloomed in the air. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah," Riku agreed, his eyes not quite looking at the same thing. 

"It must be Christmas already if the fireworks are up…"

"Yeah…" Riku agreed.

"I'm sorry tonight was such a fiasco, I mean with the tank rupturing and such…"

"No worries, it was very fun to tell the truth. More fun than it would've been if I celebrated Christmas Eve alone."

"Ah! I should get you a prese-mmmph!" he was cut off, lips smothered by the other's, strong arms encasing him and pulling him against a warm torso. Seconds, minutes passed before they broke off, desperate for air.

"What was tha-" A cold finger pressed against his warm lips, silenced him. He looked up flustered, locking his gaze with Riku's.

"A gift. Merry Christmas." Snowflakes drifted down from the heavens as if triggered by this statement, landing with a soft touchdown on everything. One floated directionless and rested on the cheek of the taller male where it melted on contact.

The brunet blinked uncertainly for a moment then reached up and tugged on a lock of Riku's silver hair to make him look down. He placed a small shy kiss on his winter cold cheek where the snowflake had lain and blushed, flicking the pull on the zipper of Riku's white jacket.

"Merry Christmas to you too…"

And under the light of the moon and the rumbling of ever blossoming fireworks, they sat there, hand in hand, deep into the night.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/Ns: HAHAHAH I CAN'T WRITE KISS SCENES:_runs away and hides_:

Yeah, I can't. I can't write either [there are occasional moments…. This is in need of heavy editing…oh my god; this went so horribly cheesy at the end…XD.

There you have it, Meru! Your Christmas gift fic…which is like a year late. But nevertheless it is done. I hope this meets some of your standards at the least. I hope.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Now Officially, the Epilogue:

"Ah!"

"Shh."

"…sorry."

"…are you done yet?"

"I haven't done this before don't rush me."

"Okay…"

"…"

"…"

"…are you done yet?"

"No."

"Oh."

"…"

"…"

"…#$!"

"Are you okay?!"

"Shh, yeah…"

"…just jam it in there."

"But what if I break-"

"What are you guys doing?"

Riku and Sora looked behind them to see Roxas down at the snow covered sidewalk, his white sleeved arms crossed, his expression calculating.

"We're uh…" Sora started, wondering how to explain it, looking to Riku for help. Riku shrugged and jiggled the sparkly pink bobby pin out of the keyhole.

"Well?"

"We're sort of…locked out," the brunet explained as the silver haired teen beside him stood up and stowed the girly hair accessory away in his pocket. "I must've left my keys in my other pants…thought we could try and pick the lock. I don't want to wake grandma, it's kind of late." He gesticulated towards the setting moon in the distance through the winter bare tree branches.

Roxas coughed at the last bit, suppressing the impulse to roll his eyes. It was nearly 3 in the morning.

"What are you doing here anyways, Roxas? Shouldn't you be sleeping at this hour of day, er, night…hour?"

"There were some complications at my house but that's beside the point, what are _you_ doing out here so late with _him_?" Roxas accused pointing rather rudely at the teen with his cousin, stressing the word 'him'. Riku stared back completely unfazed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans.

"Well, um…we…er," Sora mumbled, stumbling over his words. His face was glowing crimson with every syllable. It was enough to tell Roxas that something had happened. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You didn't-" The rest of the blond's words were lost in a flurry of snow and a tall black figure barreling into him from the side.

"Roxas! Where did you go?!" the figure sobbed, clutching tightly to the blond's torso. Roxas wiggled frustrated underneath him on the snow carpeted concrete. "One moment you were there and then you…you weren't! And I-"

"Axel…" Roxas growled with steadily increasing rage, shoving at the immovable weight on top of him.

"-and there was this deranged homeless guy with a flowery blanket and he kept following me, he could've ripped the pockets off my pants-"

"Axel…"

"-and, my god, Roxas, all those peonies, I suppose they would grow back though-"

"Axel!" Roxas roared, yanking ruthlessly on a lock of Axel's spiky red head receiving a sharp yelp of pain.

"Yes, Roxas?" he said, rubbing his head where the roots were aching.

"Get off." Catching him off guard, the smaller of the two took the opportunity to overturn the other onto ground next to him, dangerously close to the edge and a gutter. Scrambling to his feet, he brushed his clothing free of snowflakes and pulled himself together.

"As I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted, what are you _two_ doing out so late?" Roxas repeated, fixing the collar of his quilted jacket. Behind him, the redhead, Axel, sat up and pouted at the blond's back dejectedly. "It's dangerous to be out on dark nights like these." Once again he directed his line of vision at Riku who was now leaning casually against the door, watching the white puffs of breath issuing from his every exhalation.

"We had a little trouble coming back and well," Sora stifled his yawn, rubbing the side of his face with a hand. He blinked his bleary eyes free of exhaustion. "And er…uh…"

"Save it, let's get inside before we freeze to death," Roxas said finally albeit resignedly. From the pocket of his black jeans he produced a set of keys. "I hope you don't mind me crashing here for the night." He walked up the frozen steps with care, selecting a plain worn bronze key from the bundle. Sora pulled Riku out of the way and behind him to put some distance between the teen and his cousin.

"Not at all, by the way, why are you staying over? Aren't auntie and uncle still overseas?"

"Well, yes. But some idiot," here he threw an exasperated look at Axel who was waving the flame of his lighter, which he had pulled out of his pocket earlier, at a crow alighted on the iron fence, 'broke my thermostat so the whole house is not unlike a giant ice box."

The dead bolt unlocked with a click and with a turn of the brass doorknob, the door swung open. A waft of warm air hit them and mingled with the cold weather. They rushed inside eagerly, as quietly as possible, and locked the door before all the heat escaped.

Inside in the dark hallway, they shed their heavy winter jackets and hung them on the stand. The house seemed to creak, settling around them.

"Roxas," Sora whispered as loudly as he dared. There was something ominous about the atmosphere in the house. "Where are Axel and Riku going to sleep? You know we've only got one guest room."

"No problem," Axel said, throwing an arm around Roxas' shoulder. "Roxas and I will be fine together, of course, we would've been fine back at his place too even with the heater broken, a little cuddling would warm us up right away and if not we could always-"

"You're not finishing that sentence," the blond stated blandly, swatting the side of Axel's face with the back of his hand.

Sora giggled (rather girlishly) at their antics and turned to continue down the hall when he was suddenly confronted by a close face and a dim light.

"Aaah!!"

In a flail of limbs, he fell backwards, crashing into the three behind him in surprise. They crumpled into a loud tangled heap of male teenagers on the tiles.

"Tsk tsk, you youngsters sure lack finesse, why no self respecting secret couple would ever make such a racket," clucked Sora's grandmother who bore a lit white candle in a small glass jar of wax. "You could've just knocked; I would've gladly opened the door for you."

"G-grandma."

"Yes yes, Sora dear, who else would I be, certainly not your mother, no no, certainly not her, she has long hair anyways, terribly insensible for a woman of her profession, absolutely, but anyways, when will you lovely young men be picking yourself off the floor?"

With much scrambling, the four of them managed to disentangle themselves from each other and hopped to their feet at the ready.

"Oh, who's this, who's this?" Mrs. Wilson cooed, shuffling around her grandson to look at the unfamiliar fiery redhead. "You're a fresh new face. Where did you come from, hmm?"

"Pardon my rudeness, ma'am, I am Axel, a very, _very_ good _friend_ of Roxas here, it's a _pleasure_ to make your acquaintance," he replied bubbly with a plastered smile on his face. He even had the gumption to do a little bow (if he had a hat, he'd probably tip it too.).

"Oh ho, a _friend_ of my great-nephew? This is definitely a _new_ development. Ohohoho," she said in turn, the edges around her eyes crinkling as she beamed. "And pray tell, what are you gentlemen doing, stalking through the house at this hour? Anything I should know? Hmm?"

"Uh, um, well, we-er, that is to say, you see, uh…"

"Shush, Sora dear, if we let you explain it'll take the rest of the evening," she hushed waving a hand at him and then directed towards the other three, "Who else would like to put up a decent explanation?"

"It's mainly my fault, Mrs. Wilson," Riku started, scratching his cheek with a finger. "We were on the island and the tide had come in so we were stranded for a while…" The two, one young, tall, and teenaged, the other aged, plump and possibly senile, exchanged meaningful gazes. This somehow satisfied the meddlesome grandmother.

"Fair enough, and you two?"

Roxas spoke up immediately before the other could cut a word in.

"He broke my thermostat, the house is freezing and we need a place to stay tonight. Maybe for a few days."

Grandmother Wilson narrowed her eyes and sized up Roxas' poker face then let her gaze roam over to his companion in black.

The silence was stiff and thick until Grandma flicked Axel across the nose.

"Ow!" Axel yelped, clutching at the injured part. He danced around loudly on the carpet in pain as the others watched, confused or amused. This fortunately did not last very long.

"Well, then. You two can take the spare room or one of the couches in the living room. Sora dear, I'm pretty sure the old futon is still in the storage closet, now all of you shoo and go to bed, I need to finish up on my T.V. program."

"T.V.? But your soap operas end at 8:30. What could you possibly watch at this time of night?" Sora said at this new development. He was certain that his grandmother went to bed just after he turned in every night.

She smiled deviously, hiding it behind a wrinkly hand and said, "Why, shows they only air at this hour, of course. Kufufu…"

"Don't ask, Sora," Roxas said, his face redden oh so slightly. This prompted Axel to reply.

"Of course, you'd know all about it, won't you, Roxas? But if you don't…I'd be glad to teach you…"

"You-_ugh_, I'm not even going to argue, I'm going to bed. Don't follow me," the blond gritted through his clenched teeth. He flashed a warning glare at Riku and stomped down the hall.

"But Roxas…" Axel cried running light-footed down the hall after him.

Sora's eyebrows knitted in bewilderment. A soft push from behind urged him up the stairs, derailing his train of thought.

Slowly, he ascended the stairs, feeling drowsier than he was a moment ago. So drowsy, in fact, that he nearly pitched forward onto the steps if a quick pair of arms did not catch him right away (for the umpteenth time this night).

"You okay?" Riku inquired, pulling him upright. He kept a hand on his shoulder in case he fell again.

"Y-yeah," the brunet replied. He pressed a hand to his forehead as he was hit with a dizzy spell, the other finding the wooden railing. "Just feeling a little more dizzy than sleepy…"

There was a clatter of hurried footsteps and his hands were clasped suddenly in his grandmother's.

"Oh dear, I hope you're not turning frail again. We thought for sure you'd grow into a strong boy, oh how this will sadden your parents so…" she wailed fretfully, smoothing down the hair on the side of his head.

"I'm fine, grandma, really…" Sora assured her, blinking his eyes hard to dispel his fatigue.

"The boy was delicate when he was little, you see, and when he grow stronger we had such high hopes he'd stay that way, oh Sora dear, you better get well, you know, I have the remedy right here, hold on," she rambled on and was now searching inside the knitted cardigan and pulled out…

…the dress from that afternoon.

"How's that supposed to make me get better?!"

"Don't you know? There's a belief that if you dress your child as a girl if they're weak when young, they'll grow strong when they get bigger."

"What kind of absurd belief is that?! There's no way that's going to work!"

"It worked when you were little!"

"I-……" Sora found he had nothing to say to that. Changing the subject now….

"Anyways, I'm fine, I've just been out too long in the cold, that's all," he yawned, covering his mouth with a hand, "I'm going to bed…night..."

He clambered up the rest of the stairs in hazy sluggish movements leaving Riku and his grandmother in the hallway.

"You best be going to bed too, dear, I have to go and check up on the other two, see if they maimed each other yet," she ordered with a pleasant smile. "Oh, I just remembered, we threw out the futon a couple of days ago."

"Whatever for?" Riku asked with a grin of his own, resting his arm on the banister. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her smile still in place.

"Oh, moths?"

Riku chuckled lightly. "Well, good night, Mrs. Wilson."

"Good night, dear, it's fine just to call me grandma, oh, take this with you, you just might need it," she passed the dress up rolled into a bundle to him. Upon receiving it, Riku felt something hidden inside. He looked at her inquisitively.

"Just in case," she said with a wink then stretched in the way that little old ladies did and started to scamper away.

"Hey, um, grandma?" She stopped but did not turn around to face him.

"Hmm?"

"You knew I was a boy all along, didn't you? At the store?"

She turned and looked him directly in the eye.

"What was that? I don't think I caught it, my hearing aid must low on batteries again."

"Good night…" Riku said again, this time taking his leave as well.

Grandmother Wilson stopped in mid step and cast a tired look at the stairway and said, quietly so,

"Good night to you too…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/Ns: …and that's the real end of the story! That epilogue was supposed to be just a bonus story where Riku and Sora locked outside and they try to pick the lock. They argue briefly about why it's taking so long and how to do it properly when the bobby pin breaks so they spend the night out on the steps, huddled next to each other which is how grandma find them in the morning. But then Roxas appeared…and everything went down hill and five pages long from there.

Don't you just love grandma? I know I do.

And what is that mysterious object wrapped in the dress? It's……………a bottle of cold medicine. Maybe. I'll let you decide.

Sorry, Meru, that this was one year late (actually, 364 days late from the start date to the finish date) but I finally finished it! I hope you like it.


End file.
